Thursday, January 16, 2014

East End Food Co-op

So there's a beautiful thang about 10-15 minutes from my house. I don't know why I don't go there more often. I used to say it was because of the cost but then I realized I was just lying to myself because it's actually really affordable.

It's the East End Food Co-op and it's the most amazing place on earth. It's downright magical. I've been there before to pick up veggie items in the past, but I never took my time and actually perused the area. I clearly wasn't aware of what I was missing...

This time, instead of rushing past the bulk bins, I malingered, savored, and explored.

Man oh man, was I impressed. This place has every type of dried bean known to man, every grain, every rice, every nut, seed, and spice. Lord almighty they even had my wheat berries, every single type!!

Many, many of these items I was considering buying on Amazon for lack of finding it elsewhere, but after seeing the prices (and also the benefit of reducing my carbon footprint by buying from closer to home) I won't have to!

This is the part where I got really excited and embarrassing: they have bulk honey, vinegar, oil, and maple syrup!!! And you can FILL your own JARS!

You just weigh your mason jar, write down it's weight, fill 'er up, and write down the product number! Oh and along the top they have bulk pumps of Dr. Bronner's liquid castile soap- AWESOME!

Oh! And they have peanut butter machines so you can make your own fresh, raw peanut buttery goodness! Also, they have lots and lots of bulk options for coffee beans...also known as the elixir of life..

At this point, my arms were too laden with goodies (forget taking a cart in this place, it's too small and packed!) ergo, I was unable to take anymore pictures but I was still in my own personal heaven. They have organic eggs from local, pastured chickens as well as non-homogenized, gently pasteurized milks. They also had tons of organic, free range chickens and grass-fed, pastured beef from farms local to Pittsburgh. I was stoked to see that the whole roasting chickens were on sale, so I scooped two of those up as well as some milk, kombucha, kefir, and eggs. I'm pleasantly surprised to see that all of it wasn't that much more expensive than the prices I'd been paying at Giant Eagle, for much less quality items!